Chancellor Carol McCoy said today in court that she will review a sample of records of children who died after being brought to the attention of the Department of Children’s Services (DCS) in order to determine whether the agency is required to release child fatality records. McCoy presides over the lawsuit brought by the Tennessean and a coalition of other news organizations against DCS for allegedly violating the Tennessee Public Records Act by declining to disclose the records of about 30 children who died in the first half of 2012 while under the agency’s supervision.

A 2011 legislative bill that limits HOPE scholarship funding is catching up with nearly 3,000 students who are expected to run out of funding over the next two years, the Tennessean reports. Students who have double majors, changed their majors, or transferred school are especially at risk. State Sen. Doug Overby, R-Maryville, said he plans to reintroduce a bill that would provide lottery scholarship money through eight full semesters, not just through the minimum number of hours required to complete a degree program.

The 108th General Assembly convened Tuesday by re-electing House Speaker Beth Harwell of Nashville and Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey of Blountville. The legislature has its largest freshman class in years, with 31 new members of the 132. The 99-member House has 23 new members, and the Senate has eight. Republicans rule both chambers with a supermajority of more than two-thirds of the membership in each house. Read more at the Commercial Appeal.

Editorial boards across the country are urging the Senate to move past partisan politics and confirm federal judges, Gavel Grab reports. Editorials from Sacramento, Fort Worth, Tulsa, and Reno, to name a few, are demanding the Senate approve qualified individuals for judgeships to alleviate the judicial vacancy crisis. “Further delays are affecting case flow and impeding litigants’ day in court,” the Tulsa World editorial says.

Memphis City Council members Shea Flinn and Jim Strickland will present a proposal to increase the city sales tax rate one-half percent in an effort to raise $27 million annually for Pre-K education and $20 million more to fund a city property tax reduction, the Memphis Business Journal reports. The increase would put Memphis sales tax rate at 2.75 percent, the highest rate allowed under state law. Combined with the state tax, shoppers would pay 9.75 percent on purchases.

American International Group (AIG) may join a $25 billion lawsuit against the U.S. government, claiming the insurer’s $182 billion bailout harmed shareholders, the ABA Journal reports. The complaint alleges the government charged “punitive” interest rates on its loans and enabled a “backdoor bailout” of the insurer’s Wall Street clients by using AIG money to pay off credit default swaps. If the company does not join the suit and the action ultimately proves successful, it could face additional shareholder lawsuits.

The Tennessee chapter of National Federal of Independent Business (NFIB) said this week that it will support reforms to the state’s workers’ compensation system. State Director Jim Brown said in a news release that the organization looks forward to working with Gov. Bill Haslam and members of the General Assembly to improve workers’ compensation. The Nashville Business Journal has more. 

The Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services (TALS) executive director Erik Cole is leaving the organization at the end of January. Cole, who has served as executive director since 2005, is moving to the Nashville mayor’s office, where he will be working on creating new programs related to financial stability and empowerment for low-income Nashvillians.

In the ongoing fight between businesses and gun-rights advocates over restricting guns in parking lots, House Republicans are exploring a compromise, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports. Sen. Stacey Campfield, R-Knoxville, proposed a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that would still allow businesses to ban guns from vehicles on their property, but prohibits them from searching those vehicles for the sole purpose of checking for guns. While Campfield’s proposal interested many members, House Speaker Beth Harwell, R-Nashville, said “nobody knows what the bill’s going to look like.”

The Boston Globe reports that the New England Compounding Center -- the pharmacy linked to the nationwide meningitis outbreak -- is attempting to get its cleaning contractor to take responsibility for problems in its factory. The firm, UniFirst, acknowledges that a subsidiary helped clean portions of the pharmacy’s cleanroom facility, but a spokesperson called the claims “unfounded and without merit.”